The 10 Commandments displayed on a granite monument at the Oklahoma State Capitol have been superseded by another commandment: Thou shalt not have a display on state property that supports "any sect, church, denomination or system of religion."

And so the monument, which has sparked controversy since its installation in 2012 on the Capitol grounds in Oklahoma City, was taken away early Tuesday morning and transported to a conservative think tank for storage.

On June 30, the Oklahoma Supreme Court, in a 7-2 ruling, said the display violated a provision in the state constitution prohibiting use of state property to further religions. Oklahoma County Judge Thomas Prince then ordered its removal by Oct. 12.

According to the Associated Press, a contractor began removing the monument shortly after 10:30 on Monday evening and took it to the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs' offices a few blocks away, Office of Management and Enterprise Services spokesman John Estus told the AP.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol had increased security around the monument earlier Monday. Estus said the decision to remove the monument under the cover of darkness was made to avoid disturbing workers at the Capitol and to keep protesters from demonstrating while heavy equipment was being used.

"We wanted it to be done as quickly and efficiently as possible, and doing it at night gave us the best opportunity to do that," Estus told the AP. "The Highway Patrol was also very concerned that having it in the middle of the day could lead to having demonstrations of some kind."

Workers place the Ten Commandments monument in its new home at the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, just down the street from the state Capitol in Oklahoma City early Oct. 6, 2015.(Photo11: Sue Ogrocki, AP)

Originally authorized by the Republican-controlled Legislature in 2009, the privately funded monument has been a lightning rod for controversy since it was erected three years ago, prompting a lawsuit from Bruce Prescott, a Baptist minister from Norman who complained it violated the state constitution.

"Frankly, I'm glad we finally got the governor and attorney general to agree to let the monument be moved to private property, which is where I believe it's most appropriate," Prescott told local TV station KOCO. "I'm not opposed to the Ten Commandments. The first sermon I ever preached was on the Ten Commandments. I'm just opposed to it being on public property."

Its placement at the Capitol prompted requests from several groups to have their own monuments installed, including a satanic church in New York that wanted to erect a 7-foot-tall statue that depicts Satan as Baphomet, a goat-headed figure with horns, wings and a long beard. A Hindu leader in Nevada, an animal rights group and the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monsteralso also made requests.

The original monument was smashed into pieces last year when someone drove a car across the Capitol lawn and crashed into it. A 29-year-old man who was arrested the next day was admitted to a hospital for mental health treatment, and formal charges were never filed. A new monument was erected in January.

Former state representative Mike Reynolds, a Republican who voted to authorize the monument, was one of a handful of people who watched as the monument was removed Monday night.

"This is a historical event," Reynolds said. "Now we know we have to change the constitution. It would be good to get rid of some of the Supreme Court justices, too."

Brady Henderson, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma, which filed the lawsuit, told the Daily Oklahoman newspaper that the removal could have been predicted from the moment the Oklahoma Legislature allowed the monument.

"They didn't really think this through, or look carefully at how court precedent works," he said.

Attorney General Scott Pruitt, a Republican, told the paper that the Oklahoma Supreme Court was wrong in its ruling, and said he supports an effort to have voters change the provision of the state constitution used to order the monument's removal.

Meanwhile, Henderson promised another lawsuit if the constitution is changed and the monument is brought back.